Speaker wire for Pre Out signal?

Theheadsn

Question: Is it possible to use speaker wire as an RCA cable for the pre out signal from the Receiver to the External Amp?

I have my speaker wire ran in the walls, and dont like the idea of having wires ran all over the floor. Is it possible, if I wanted to have the external amps next to the speakers themselves and run the pre out signal using the speaker wire in the wall?

On a side note, its all 12g red/black lines. Is there any actual benefit from doing this? Was curious if having a shorter speaker run and "expensive speaker cables" would actually warrant a better sound experience. Or is it snake oil?

F1nut

RCA cables are shielded, speaker cable isn't. Therefore, you cannot use speaker cable.

There's nothing snake oil about high end cable only people that can't afford them, don't have gear with enough resolution to benefit from them or are deaf.

mhardy6647

As @F1nut said -- in a word (OK, three words): umm, yeah, no.

Speaker cable (zip) cord could be used if one 'unzipped' the two conductors, made a twisted pair of wires from them (with the insulation still on, of course) then stripped and tinned the ends and soldered RCA connectors to each end of each twisted pair... but the result would most likely be inferior to any good unbalanced cable you can buy.

Just buy the cables you need and run 'em through the wall if you wish; did you install a 'plenum' for the speaker cabling when you built the room (or had it built)?

tonyb

Where are the rest of the electronics located ? There are other options to tidy up cables so that visually they are barely noticed.

Theheadsn

it was mainly just question I was thinking about. Didnt know if it was possible. Makes sense why it wouldnt be, just wasnt sure if I was missing something. I personally would probably never need to have my external amps like that as I'm not running super high end equipment in a dedicated sound room. This is all in my living room where environmental corrections would work wonders before upgrading to fancy speak wires

tonyb

I'm confused....if everything is in your living room, why do you have in-wall speaker wires to the fronts ?

Theheadsn

tonyb wrote: »

I'm confused....if everything is in your living room, why do you have in-wall speaker wires to the fronts ?

My media rack is in a different location. Have the TV and speakers located by my fireplace, receiver and the like are on the adjacent wall. Recently redid the house, so I was able to run everything in the walls.

Theheadsn

DSkip wrote: »

Theheadsn wrote: »

it was mainly just question I was thinking about. Didnt know if it was possible. Makes sense why it wouldnt be, just wasnt sure if I was missing something. I personally would probably never need to have my external amps like that as I'm not running super high end equipment in a dedicated sound room. This is all in my living room where environmental corrections would work wonders before upgrading to fancy speak wires

Room correction only focuses on tonal balance where the mic is located. It does nothing to improve stereophonic elements and in most cases the program can be detrimental to those elements. I spent hours doing corrections at AXPONA and had to throw it all out due to a soundstage completely stuck between the speakers. I got rid of the corrections and the soundstage pushed well beyond the walls in the sweet spot.

Cables improve these elements.

I know this probably doesn't matter given the situation but I did want to touch on it some.

I mean more of physical objects in my living room. My living room/kitchen/dining room is all open concept, all tile floor, not a lot of furniture. So right now its sonically an audiophiles nightmare, if not just a headache lol I understand I wont be able to dial it in like I had my garage BECAUSE its a living room, but hopefully I'll be able to get more ways to reduce reflection

mrloren

why not just put the amp next to the AVR?

Theheadsn

mrloren wrote: »

why not just put the amp next to the AVR?

it is now. Was just curious if having a short over expensive speaker wire with the amp right next to the speaker would actually show any noticeable differences

delkal

Theheadsn wrote: »

mrloren wrote: »

why not just put the amp next to the AVR?

it is now. Was just curious if having a short over expensive speaker wire with the amp right next to the speaker would actually show any noticeable differences

It will not sound better. I would go the other way. A medium to good quality (or the sky is the limit) shortest possible RCA cable between your preamp and amp. Then cheap large gauge speaker cables (to start). Upgrade your speaker cables when you think you need to. Or just be happy with your AV setup.

It has to do with the impedance between components. Long RCA cables are much more problematic than even longer speaker wires.